1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an arrangement of a relay and control module combination wherein the relay has an approximately cuboid housing with a main connection side from which load connecting elements emerge and with an auxiliary connection side with control connections. The the control module has a module housing with a coupling side which can be fitted to the auxiliary connection side of the relay housing and, in the region of the coupling side to the control connections, has complementary plug connections which produce an electrical connection of the control module for the relay.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Electrical and electronic circuits which are arranged separately from the relay, for example on a printed circuit board, are widely used for actuating and monitoring electromagnetic relays. It is often desirable to combine the relay with its actuation circuit, in which case it is also known for an electronic circuit to be accommodated in the relay housing itself. However, such a relay with a built-in electronic circuit is more complex and more expensive and, owing to the special circuitry, can be used only for specific purposes. In addition, the required quantities for such designs are typically relatively low. It is also known for an electronic module to be produced for a relay as a separate module and, if required, to be accommodated in an appropriate chamber in the relay housing (DE 36 14 919 A1). The electrical coupling between the electronic module and the relay is, in this case, produced externally via a printed circuit board or the like.
Furthermore, it is also known for a plug-in relay and an additional module to be connected via their respective housings to form a unit (EP 05 07 729 A2). In this case, however, the electrical coupling of the additional module to the relay is once again produced only via the respective connecting pins and via a common relay socket. In contrast, the housings are connected to one another mechanically. On the other hand, relays have also been disclosed (EP 0409 613 A2) which have connecting pins on various housing sides in order, for example, to carry out the actuation via a solder side of a printed circuit board while the load connections are coupled via blade plugs.
FR-A1-26 96 040 discloses an interrupter switch whose design corresponds to the relay construction mentioned initially. There, however, the load connecting elements are not connected to a main connection side until additional modules have been fitted. As a result, the multi-part housing has openings on all sides which is unacceptable for a relay subject to relatively stringent requirements for insulation and electric-shock protection. A control module in the form of a heat protection relay is likewise schematically indicated, without any matching of the respective housing shapes being evident.
The aim of the present invention is to provide an arrangement of a relay with a control module of the type mentioned at the beginning, wherein the module can be coupled, as required, to the relay. In addition, the module forms not only a mechanical unit with the relay, but also an electrical unit; the relay also capable of being operated normally without the control module.